As a freshmen mainstreamed at a public high school, my son has to change classes multiple times and deal with crowded, noisy hallways. A few years ago he couldn’t have done it. I am not saying he is perfect and he still struggles with things, but he has figured out how to cope with his sensory issues for the most part. For example, he recognizes the high school cafeteria was too much between the chaos and the social pressures so he eats in a classroom and that is okay. We are very proud of how far he has come because over the years he has been diagnosed with Asperger’s, ADHD, anxiety and depression.
He attended a private elementary school and really struggled to fit in with the other kids and the expectations. He received his first diagnosis, ADHD, at the age of 6. As school went on he struggled with completing assignments and he started to act out more, especially during unstructured times. He always said he liked gym and recess but he had frequent meltdowns during those times. …continue reading
I hate to say it but the moment you find out you are pregnant you feel guilty, or at least I did. After the congratulating ourselves I started to remember all of the times in my life that I had gone out and drank alcohol, smoked thousands of cigarettes, and ate all of the wrong things. This was years prior to the nesting phase, which preceded the pregnancy of course. The moment you know you are carrying life all the bad stuff you have done comes back to you as you know you are responsible for another human being.
It goes on through the birth, and into the child’s first few weeks and years of life, and then you think it would stop but no, they go to school and if things don’t work out more guilt creeps in as in my case. Others sort of resumed a normal life or so it seemed, while I seemed to spend my life at the school, trying to find out why my son isn’t settled, can’t do his work, can’t sit down, feels persecuted by other kids, doesn’t eat his lunch and is generally not a happy camper. He goes on for four years this way, opting out of the school play, insisting he doesn’t do art even though everyone else is, playing alone in the school yard at lunchtime and I’m so GUILTY about it all because I know the situation is not right. …continue reading
